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True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society

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True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society

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Overview

Why has punditry lately overtaken news? Why do lies seem to linger so long in the cultural subconscious even after they’ve been thoroughly discredited? And why, when more people than ever before are documenting the truth with laptops and digital cameras, does fact-free spin and propaganda seem to work so well? True Enough explores leading controversies of national politics, foreign affairs, science, and business, explaining how Americans have begun to organize themselves into echo chambers that harbor diametrically different facts—not merely opinions—from those of the larger culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620458402
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/17/2008
Pages:	258
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

FARHAD MANJOO manages Machinist, a daily technology news blog at Salon.com, where he also writes frequently on journalism, politics, and new media.

Read an Excerpt

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Introduction: Why Facts No Longer Matter.

1. "Reality" Is Splitting.

2. The New Tribalism: Swift Boats and the Power of Choosing.

3. Trusting Your Senses: Selective Perception and 9/11.

4. Questionable Expertise: The Stolen Election and the Men Who Push It.

5. The Twilight of Objectivity, or What's the Matter with Lou Dobbs?

6. "Truthiness" Everywhere.

Epilogue: Living in a World without Trust.

Acknowledgments.

Notes.

Index.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The best political book so far this year." –Nicholas Kristof, the New York Times

From the B&N Reads Blog

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Editorial Reviews

In 2005, Stephen Colbert catapulted the word "truthiness"-the quality of an idea "feeling" true without any backup evidence-into the public consciousness. Salon blogger Manjoo expands upon this concept in his perceptive analysis of the status of truth in the digital age, critiquing a Rashomon-like world in which competing versions of truth vie for our attention. Driven by research and study, the book relies on abstract psychological and sociological concepts, such as "selective exposure" and "peripheral processing," though these are fleshed out with examples from American history, politics and media. For example, Manjoo demonstrates how the Swift Boat Veterans' negative campaign derailed John Kerry's 2004 presidential run. He also points out that the sheer quantity of 9/11 imagery has engendered more conspiracy theories, not fewer-demonstrating, he says, the disjunction between truth and proof. Manjoo rounds out his analysis by examining the workings of "partisan news realities," and he points out that the first casualty in these truth wars is a basic human and civic need: trust. Though several of the author's ideas are repetitiously threaded through his narrative, Manjoo has produced an engaging, illustrative look at the dangers of living in an oversaturated media world. (Mar.)
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Publishers Weekly

* In 2005, Stephen Colbert catapulted the word “truthiness”—the quality of an idea “feeling” true without any backup evidence—into the public consciousness. Salon blogger Manjoo expands upon this concept in his perceptive analysis of the status of truth in the digital age, critiquing a Rashomon-like world in which competing versions of truth vie for our attention. Driven by research and study, the book relies on abstract psychological and sociological concepts, such as “selective exposure” and “peripheral processing,” though these are fleshed out with examples from American history, politics and media. For example, Manjoo demonstrates how the Swift Boat Veterans' negative campaign derailed John Kerry's 2004 presidential run. He also points out that the sheer quantity of 9/11 imagery has engendered more conspiracy theories, not fewer—demonstrating, he says, the disjunction between truth and proof. Manjoo rounds out his analysis by examining the workings of “partisan news realities,” and he points out that the first casualty in these truth wars is a basic human and civic need: trust. Though several of the author's ideas are repetitiously threaded through his narrative, Manjoo has produced an engaging, illustrative look at the dangers of living in an oversaturated media world. (Mar.) (Publishers Weekly, January 28, 2008)

Advance Praise for True Enough
“The news media are supposed to help us understand the world, and faster, better, more varied communication technologies are supposed to enrich that process of understanding. True Enough explains why things have so often worked in reverse—and why Americans no longer disagree just about opinions and political values, but about basic factual realities. This problem of ‘truthiness’ is depressingly familiar, but Farhad Manjoo adds useful information and insights about its origins, effects, and possible solutions.” —James Fallows, National Correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly and author of Breaking the News
“Well worth reading. Make no mistake: this is no run-of-the-mill exposé of media bias, but a sophisticated analysis of the ways and means by which lies and distortions do so well in today’s fractured, cynical media world.” —Todd Gitlin, Professor of Journalism and Sociology, Columbia University, and author of The Bulldozer and the Big Tent

From the Publisher

Salon blogger Manjoo dissects how stories in the public consciousness spread, often with little regard to the truth. Through "selective perception," consumers can omit facts while forming opinions. Narrator Ray Porter maintains a respectful, even tone in describing the examples that reflect both sides of the political aisle, from the right's faulty Swift Boat campaign to the left's lack of evidence in support of a stolen election in 2004. Perceptions are analyzed in messages that offer "more theater than truth," and examples include 9/11 conspiracy theories and even a 1951 football game. But the most shocking examples come in the form of biased broadcast television "news reports." Again, Porter's narration never takes sides. Listeners will be alarmed by the influence of "experts on the take" doling out what Manjoo calls "amateur research." M.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2008 - AudioFile

True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society

True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society

Paperback

Paperback

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Read an Excerpt

Table of Contents

What People are Saying About This

Customer Reviews